Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Edmund was looking forward to seeing Daisy. He had not had any communication with her since the very muted note she had sent after he’d gifted her the fabrics and gown. He could not tell whether she was pleased about the gift or annoyed.
It flustered him that he dwelt on her reaction so much.
But today, his aunt was holding a gathering in which her next task would be revealed. Edmund found himself quite impatient to arrive at her house because then Daisy would be there, and the silly knot that twisted his inner organs together would loosen.
He wondered if he should speak with her and explain that his feelings had seemingly evolved. He did not know what she would think about that.
She returned my kiss quite enthusiastically.
He licked his lips at the memory, imagining he could taste the citrus scent of her mouth as he did so. He could not deny to himself that he wanted to kiss her again.
As his horse drew up at his aunt’s home, Edmund spotted Winston walking towards him, in deep conversation with a young lady while her chaperone trailed behind.
He paused, wondering if he should linger so he might speak to his friend, but the thought of Daisy already inside and possibly waiting for him spurred him to ring the doorbell.
His aunt’s butler was quite prompt in answering, and he stepped inside, making his way to the back garden as the butler instructed.
Edmund stepped onto the veranda, and his eyes immediately fell upon Daisy.
She was clad in an olive gown that was made of the silk fabric he’d purchased for her at the drapery.
Her golden hair was gathered atop her head, and it gleamed in the sunlight.
She wore no ornaments or baubles, but her emerald eyes shone bright enough to compensate for that oversight.
She was standing on her own, on the outskirts of a group of ladies who were seemingly too occupied with their talk to notice her. She held a drink in her hand but did not sip from it.
Suddenly, a hand clapped him on the back, and Edmund turned around.
“Edmund, how are you?” Winston greeted him with a bright smile.
“Fine. What are you doing here, anyway? I saw you out front talking to a young lady…but…” He gasped as a thought occurred. “Say it is not so. You still have no stake in this competition…. Do you?”
Winston gave him a mock-offended look. “Do I not? Are you not my dear friend, requiring my support?”
Edmund rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t aware I was in need of having my hand held.”
“Very well, I’ll admit it. This is cracking entertainment, and I refuse to hear about it second-hand.”
“One day, your curiosity will be the death of you.”
“Ah, but that’s where you are wrong because just like a cat, I have nine lives.”
Edmund just shook his head at his friend. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I must find Lady Daisy.”
Winston laughed lightly. “Were you not already staring at her with hungry eyes?” he smirked.
Edmund glared at his friend once before walking away.
He searched for Daisy and found her looking back at him.
His heart leaped at the intensity of her gaze, and the entire room seemed to disappear.
All he saw was her, as though she was a ray of sunshine in a room full of clouds.
She’d moved further away from the other ladies and was standing on her own as if she was waiting for him.
As he approached, she gave him a tentative smile, and his pulse quickened in response.
“Good afternoon, Lady Daisy.” He bowed as he arrived at her side.
She gave him a curtsy. “Good afternoon, Your Grace.”
“Are you ready for the games today?” he asked.
She nodded, taking a deep breath. “As ready as I can be. I must admit, I’m a bit nervous.”
He leaned in slightly. “Don’t worry. I shall be right by your side, always,” he whispered and saw Daisy bite her lip.
A shiver went down his spine.
Heavens, I want to kiss her again.
He immediately chastised himself for the thought.
The kiss was a mistake; it could not happen again.
Their arrangement was set in stone. It was meant to free him from his aunt’s matchmaking schemes, to give him peace for a Season, and to ensure that Daisy walked away with ten thousand pounds tucked safely into her reticule.
She nodded, her gaze softening as if she really was reassured. Just then, Aunt Regina appeared on the veranda, clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention. A number of her staff walked among the guests, handing them items from trays they carried.
“I wonder what it will be,” Daisy whispered.
A servant stopped in front of them, handing them a black velvet strip of cloth. Daisy took hold of it and looked up at Edmund.
“Unfortunately, I am not privy to my aunt’s plans. I believe you’ve gathered that she’s quite fond of the element of surprise,” he returned.
Daisy half-smiled. “Indeed, I have. It’s an endearing quality.”
“Perhaps. And rather infuriating.”
She chuckled. “I’d imagine you’d say that.”
He raised an eyebrow, but before Daisy could respond, his aunt’s voice echoed through the room.
“Today’s game is blind man’s buff,” Aunt Regina announced. “I’m sure you all played it as children, so I shan’t bother with reviewing the rules of play. But I must tell you this: Our game will have only one caveat. You are only to find one person—your partner.”
An immediate murmur arose amongst the guests, everyone wanting to know how they could do that with a blindfold.
“It’s simple. Your partner will be allowed to make a noise to alert you as to where they are. But!” Lady Archworth held up a finger dramatically, looking around at everyone. “The other teams are also allowed to make noise to confuse and distract you. The quickest team to find each other wins.”
This announcement was met with a chorus of groans and laughter.
While the others lamented the impossibility of the task, Edmund ran the silky material of the blindfold through his fingertips. When he passed the strip of cloth to Daisy, a blush crept up the back of her neck and flooded her cheeks.
A blindfold.
Edmund’s traitorous imagination immediately supplied an image of Daisy wearing one.
Her eyes hidden beneath dark silk. Her lips parted. Her hands reaching for him—
He shut the thought down at once.
Good God. I wonder what she was thinking just now?
He patted his own cheeks, sure that he was also showing his own sense of mortification.
Daisy glanced at him. “Do you think we can win?”
“Possibly.”
She pursed her lips. “That is not a very encouraging answer.”
“It is an honest one.”
She huffed. “Well, I should like to win.”
That surprised him little. Edmund rubbed his chin. “We shall need a signal.”
“A signal?”
“A word. Something unlikely to be repeated by the others.”
Daisy nodded thoughtfully. “That is sensible.”
“Can you think of one?
“What about turnip?”
He stared at her.
“What? No one else would choose turnip.”
“But why turnip?” he asked.
She frowned. “When I visited your home, you told me that you and Harry liked to plant potatoes and turnips in the garden. Did I misremember?”
Edmund was confounded. She had recalled the exchange with alacrity and come up with the term and the memory without hesitation.
Turnip…Yes…That’s exactly the right word for us.
Before he could reply, Aunt Regina clapped her hands.
“Hush! I am not done. You can make a sound to call your partner to you, but it cannot be words. You cannot, for example, say, ‘I’m here.’ You can twit like a bird or roar like a lion, hum a tune or bark like a dog, but no words are permitted.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd, but Daisy looked stricken.
“Well,” Edmund said, “there goes turnip.”
She groaned. “It was an excellent plan.”
Edmund felt the corner of his lip twitching in amusement before he suppressed it. “I am sure it was.”
“What are we supposed to do now?”
He glanced at her. “Perhaps we should abandon all hope.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Can you not imitate the sound of an animal?”
“Lady Daisy. I am a grown man. I will not hoot like an owl for a game.”
To his annoyance, he found himself enjoying her indignation.
“Very well,” she said. “I shall think of something.”
“I tremble in anticipation.”
She pointed a finger at him. “Mock me all you wish. When we win, you shall regret ever doubting my skills.”
For the first time that evening, Edmund felt relaxed.
Perhaps they could get through this after all.
Two weeks of Lady Archworth’s games had given Daisy quite an appreciation for the Dowager’s imagination. She was also quite pleasantly surprised at what a good sport the Duke could be.
As it turned out, they did not win the game of blind man’s bluff.
Even though Daisy whistled as a morning dove might, Lord Dennison and Lady Mary Dodson ran straight into each other’s arms. There was simply no accounting for how they managed it, but the competition that day was over in a matter of seconds.
While others whispered that somehow the couple had worked out a way to cheat, Daisy and Edmund made the most of the evening by sipping lemonade and promenading through the gardens.
When the sunlight dipped below the horizon, Daisy gamely taught the Duke how to mimic the dove, and he obliged her by echoing the sound.
Since then, they had been summoned four more times to participate in one game or another that was hosted by Lady Archworth and had spent at least some portion of every other day in each other’s company.
Sometimes, Harry joined them for tea or in the park.
But on other days, Daisy and the Duke attended the theatre and danced with one another at a ball.
If anyone had asked her, Daisy would say that she felt comfortable standing beside the Duke. She had, over the course of the competition, come to rely upon him completely. He was a steady, solid presence in her life, and she was grateful to have him by her side.
But no one asked her. They didn’t need to bother.
My feelings are written all over my face.